


night dive

by VolunteerFieryDantooinian



Category: Hooten & the Lady (TV)
Genre: Angst, Aquaphobia, Cave diving, Crying, DEFINITELY don't try this at home, Diving, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Scuba Diving, Sign Language, Underwater Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-29
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-12-07 20:49:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11631624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VolunteerFieryDantooinian/pseuds/VolunteerFieryDantooinian
Summary: Alex is good at figuring out people's fears.Ulysses Hooten, say what you would about him, was certainly the most difficult person she'd met in a long time.Until now.





	night dive

**Author's Note:**

> Look I know a lot of people talk about diving in their titles to be cool or edgy or w/e but for those of us that actually want to write about diving, it's kind of confusing  
> Words in italics are ASL, with the exception of emphasis. You should be able to tell.

The water was rough today.

 

It was an easy enough objective. One of Alex's anonymous sources had tipped her off to underwater caves in Mallorca, Spain. Apparently there were rumors of ancient Spanish treasure hidden there long before the caves had flooded. It would be a difficult dive, but the payoff would be astronomical. So she had called Hooten and booked a flight to Spain, packing her things as quickly as she could and making sure she got the two of them a boat in advance.

Now, it was time for them to dive, and as she struggled into her tight-fitting, black and gray wetsuit, she couldn't help but notice something was off. The usually talkative, abrasive Hooten was nearly silent as he strapped on his fins, his face pale and drawn. She brushed it off as seasickness, and hoped he would feel better when they were underwater. 

Alex slid on her fins with little struggle and strapped them up, sliding her tank on her back. They had to dress warmly for this dive. It was December, after all, and while it wasn't too cold in the open water, it was night, so it could get downright freezing down in the caves. 

"Are you ready?" She asked, grinning at Hooten and sliding her dive hood on. He frowned, apparently not hearing her, staring out at the water with a reserved expression. "Hooten!" She exclaimed, and he whipped around. 

"Yes. Let's go." He said, cracking an uneasy smile, and Alex slid her mask over her head. They'd managed to borrow full-face, comm-equipped dive masks from a friend of Hooten's in exchange for a few favors. Just in case, they both had regular masks clipped to their belts, if they ran out of air and needed to buddy breathe. "Checking, checking." Alex switched on her comms. 

"Hear you loud and clear, Lady Alex." He responded, and smirked at her from the other side of the boat. She walked to the edge of the boat, held her mask in place, and fell backwards into the water, slightly dizzy from the impact as the water closed over her head.

Even with her many protections, the chill was still biting as she swam over to Hooten. She gestured at a narrow opening in the slight cliffs on this side of the island. 

"I'm fairly sure that's the entrance." Alex explained, and he gave her the ok symbol. It was dark down here, and as they made their way to the entrance, she made a note to start the line. She hammered a pike into the cliff wall and tied their rope around it. That way, they could follow it back. 

Hooten still looked ill in the washed-out lights from his mask, and she really, really hoped that it was just the lighting. "You look pale." She said softly, touching his arm, and he flinched away.

"I'm _fine_." He had a distrustful, distant look in his dark eyes. Alex noted to talk to him about it on land. Slowly, they entered the cave. It started out as a tunnel, sides slick with algae and calcite formations. Fish darted by. It was oddly peaceful down here. The only sound as they swam through was the sound of bubbles from her regulator. Soon, it opened up into a larger cavern. Eerie, thin stalactites hung from the ceiling like skinny little fingers reaching out to touch them. It seemed as if there was a pocket of air above them, but Alex knew better.

"Alex, I'm gonna see what's up there, ok?" Hooten said through the comms. Her heart skipped a beat.

"NO! Parts of the cave are saturated with poisonous gas, Hooten, and the first pocket is right around here." She exclaimed, taking his arm and looking into his eyes with a panicked expression. His eyes widened. 

"Ok, maybe I won't do that." He looked queasy and backed away from the surface. His face was pale in the dim light and her hand lingered on his arm for a minute too long. Alex did a full sweep of the room and pretended not to be worried as she examined the little stalagmites on the floor. They were small but sharp. They didn't look like fingers, they were teeth, like they were swimming into the belly of a concealed beast that certainly planned to kill them both.

She ignored that thought and motioned for Hooten to follow her through a larger passage that was much shorter than the first. It led into an even larger cavern that looked like a ballroom. Fish darted around like couples dancing, and a few lionfish prowled around lazily.

"Isn't it beautiful?" She mused, eyes softening as she gazed around the room, and back at Hooten. Back in university, she'd double-majored in archaeology and marine science. Alex had always had a love for the ocean, and everything that lived within it. 

"Yeah, it really is." Even Hooten looked dazzled by the breathtaking sight of the cavern, appreciating the stalactite chandeliers that came down from the ceiling. Another perimeter sweep revealed nothing but a few stray coins, which were still a good sign. They split the find and kept going, having to go through a smallish hole in the floor. She got through easily, and she knew for a fact that Hooten could easily make it through. The look on his face just made her think he didn't  _want_ to. 

"Come on," she urged. "We're operating by the rule of thirds here. We have extra air, but we still have to be careful." Hooten nervously swam through, going so quickly he almost bumped into her as he went through. "If you want to stop, we can go back up." 

"No way!" He exclaimed, giving her an incredulous look. "I know you'd insist on going by yourself and doing something stupid, then I'd have to come down here and save your ass. I know CPR, and hey, you'd probably enjoy that, but I don't want to have to use it!" Hooten theorized, and she decided not to comment on that. It was probably true, but she could tell he was terrified. 

"Alright, let's keep going." She said quietly through the comms. The small hole opened up into a relatively small room compared to the other ones, maybe the size of their hotel room. This room was darker, less sunlight reaching it, and she suspected it was also because it was getting dark. There were bones here, not human ones, thank goodness, but she couldn't tell what they were. Hooten's face went white when he saw them. "Those aren't human bones." She reassured him, but she wasn't certain what they were. Likely a dolphin or some sort of very large fish. Both were common off the coast, so it made sense for one to wander in here.

Alex didn't want theirs to be the first human bones in here. She checked her air gauge. she hadn't even used an eighth yet. They had enough air to stay down here for about 4 hours, but they weren't staying that long. They were staying around an hour and a half so they could have enough time to get back and still have a safe amount of air. 

She looked around. There didn't seem to be anything else in the room, but there was an odd hole in the wall that wasn't the one they came through or the one she planned to go through next. It was rather small, and she couldn't see what was in it. 

Alex swam over to it. It was rather unremarkable, but she looked in, not getting her face too close. Suddenly, though, she saw a flash of movement, and she shrieked and moved out of the way as a very large eel emerged from its little apartment. She latched onto Hooten and pulled him to the other side of the room. The moray bared its teeth at her, and in horror she realized it was almost 4 feet long. After a few minutes of glaring around, the sulky little creature went back into its hole and stared at the two of them. For a few minutes, they were quiet, the only noise their heavy breathing in the masks. "Holy shit." Hooten stuttered, and she nodded.

Carefully, she let go of him and let out a shaky sigh. He was visibly trembling now, face paler than ever. After relaxing a little, they swam into the next room. She knew he was using more air than usual, and that they had to get this done fast. She could always come back. 

This room was the darkest of them all, and the water was murkier than expected. It was larger than the last one, and best of all there appeared to be a small box down in the corner of the room. That was sufficient for a small exhibit, especially if it contained information of any kind. There was a small air pocket at the top, and she recognized this as the place where a diver's tank had malfunctioned and he had been stuck down here for 3 days. 

Kelp was growing here, not a lot of it, but a patchy carpet along the floor with a few larger tendrils. She wasn't sure how, but it had persisted. Alex swam down and gently took the box, tucking it under her arm. She would open it out of the water, on the boat, hopefully. Carefully, Alex did one last sweep of the room, finding a few more coins and a creepy little statue. She peered into the next room. It was easy to get through, but she knew Hooten was suffering, and she didn't want to make it worse for him. 

"Are you ready to go?" She asked conversationally. Silence for a few seconds, and then:

"Alex, I'm stuck." His voice wavered and she turned around as quickly as possible without stirring up more silt. Sure enough, his ankle was caught in a tendril of kelp, and the way it was tangled around, there was no way he could get it off by himself. "Alex." He was clearly panicking, breaths heaving over the comms as he looked at her with terrified, suspiciously wet eyes. "I'm gonna die, oh god, I'm gonna die." He whispered. "All of the stupid shit I've done and this is how I die."

"Hooten, I need you to breathe slowly, ok? Nothing bad is going to happen. You're going to be ok." She clarified, swimming to him and putting her hands on his arms. Carefully, she undid the pocket knife from her belt and maneuvered down to the kelp, trying not to decrease her visibility. Alex cautiously sawed through the kelp, only nicking his wetsuit slightly in the process. He was shaking a little as she finished up, and suddenly the kelp dropped from his ankle and he was loose. 

By the time she was done, tears were welling in his eyes and the look on his face was like he was really drowning. Uncontrollably, she reached forward and hugged him, but he was still crying when she let go. "H-Ulysses, I need you to breathe. I'm right here." She took his hands and looked into his eyes with a soft expression. He gently pulled away, frowning. 

 _Too loud._ She was surprised to see him signing, and she nodded, making the sign for breathe. He nodded back. Slowly, he calmed down, not breathing quite as hard as he was before. They floated there for a while as he breathed, shaking as he tried to calm down. He muttered something about being stuck, about getting help, and even though he was calmer, something was still really, really bothering him.

 _come on,_ she signed, tugging his hand gently.  _Can't use too much air. Not safe._

Carefully, they made their way up through the caverns. They went past the moray eel and the bones it seemed to be guarding, through the panic-inducing small hole, which made them pause for a moment, and into the ballroom. It was still beautiful, but definitely darker. They went through the hallway with the stalactites, into the first room, and finally, they exited the cave. 

It was dark and utterly freezing. Alex was shivering now, but Hooten was worse off than she was. He still looked sick. They stopped to decompress before they headed all the way to the surface for a few minutes, and she looked gently at him. He looked away, eyes still red and puffy in a way that was oddly heart-wrenching. She touched his arm and made the sign for  _safe,_ and he smiled a little bit. He was still shaking.

Finally, they ascended, and pulled themselves up onto the deck. It was freezing in the open air, and she was visibly shaking as she removed her mask and fins. Alex unzipped her wetsuit and practically peeled herself out of the damn thing, then she grabbed the dry clothes she'd packed, being careful not to take Hooten's stuff by mistake. She pulled on the t-shirt and sweatpants over her somewhat wet swimsuit, then threw on her hoodie. Alex sat on the deck, hugging herself as she waited for Hooten to finish. It took him a little longer, likely because of how bad he was shaking. 

He sat down beside her, and she noticed the clothes he'd packed weren't as warm as hers. Just a tank top, a flannel shirt, and jeans. The man really didn't know how to dress for comfort, did he? She tapped his shoulder.  _You alright?_

"I'm fine, Alex." He murmured, leaning back and closing his eyes. "That was shitty of me." 

"No it wasn't," She said softly, putting a hand on his arm. "Do you want to tell me what's wrong?" 

"Not particularly, but I'll oblige you." Hooten frowned a little and glared off into the distance. He genuinely looked sick now, pale and exhausted with tired red eyes. It was probably oxygen toxicity and even just normal seasickness.

"When I was young, when I'd just gotten into the business, I got stuck with 3 of my friends in an underwater cave, a cenote down in Yucatan. Some of them.. Well, there's a layer of toxic gas inside the river that runs through it. You can dive through it, of course, but it was very dark. We went too deep, and all 3 of us ended up getting tangled in the vegetation. I managed to hack myself and my best friend free, but by the time I had, my other 2 friends were nearly out of air. We went to get help, but by the time anyone got there, they were already..." He trailed off.

"Oh my god," Alex gasped, eyes softening as she looked at him. "I had no idea, I- Hooten, are you alright? I shouldn't have asked you to do this. I'm sorry." She didn't hug him yet. It didn't seem right to; he clearly didn't want her pity at any point, but she wanted to show she cared about him.

"I'm not even going to lie at this point. No, I'm not, and I-I hate that. It's ok. There was no way you would have known, Alex. I didn't want to-" He trailed off. "I didn't want to let you down." His voice cracked and he rubbed his eyes, blinking tears away with a closed-off expression on his face. 

"Hooten, you wouldn't be letting me down. It would be safer for you. You look  _terrible,_ I'm not sure how you got through that. I thought you were going to pass out when you were stuck, you were hyperventilating so badly." She soothed, and he took in a shaking breath. Heart-wrenching guilt flooded through her and she flung her arms around his neck, hugging him hard. He hesitated for a minute but then hugged her back.

They stayed like that for a long time, him shaking slightly as she just sat there with her eyes closed, thinking about what he'd said. "Hold on a minute." She fished a blanket out of her bag and wrapped it around him. 

"I'm touched," He said half-jokingly, but he gave her a real smile, and that was enough. His eyes were red and he'd clearly been crying while she'd hugged him, but she didn't mention that. It was easy enough to pretend her shirt was wet from her swimsuit, which wasn't totally a lie. 

Alex took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. He leaned on her, half curled against the side of the boat.

Like that, it was easy enough to fall asleep, no matter what the water was like.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> ((so to the people that commented on my last fic, I'm curious. I didn't touch on it in this fic, but do you think there's a market for trans!Hooten in this fandom, or is it not big enough yet, etc? Just wondering, 'cause it's hard to get the vibe here.))


End file.
